Book Review: Red Bones by Ann Cleeves

Hi! This review doesn't contain any spoilers so please read on! 

As part of my Reading Challenge, I ended up scouring the Amazon Kindle deals and buying pretty much any book that was less than £1.99 and had more than a 4 star review (which is actually ALOT of books...) to try and ramp up my chances of reading my goal of 25 books. I probably have already read that many in 2015 so far, but I only started the challenge a few months back.

I didn't really need any more books as my shelves are full with ones I've not touched since buying [please tell me you all do this too??] but seeings as I was going travelling I prefer to take my Kindle and save on some kilos of luggage.

This book is actually the last instalment of Cleeves' Shetland Quartet, I haven't read the others but I don't actually think the stories all entwine. As far as a mystery novel goes, it was pretty lacking, I didn't actually find myself that concerned or excited to find out 'who done it', I found myself more getting wrapped around the characters of Sandy, Perez & Joseph, trying to unscramble their own views and opinions of what happened.

Saying all of the above though, and quite contradictory, once I had actually found out who did it did shock me and I had to read the paragraph a couple of times to get my head around it!

I think if you're into mystery novels, or the idea of death and detective novels then this one is worth a read; its quite short so isn't going to take up all of your time reading it and isn't an awful story line.

Overall, I'd probably give it 3 stars out of 5, so very was okay... but could be better.

Have you read this? Did you think the same or total opposite to me? Please let me know!!

Iceland 2015

Iceland is such a beautiful place. Reykjavik city is nice, but the country side is just .. wow. Just a few snaps of my favourite bits. We didn't see any whales, but did spot a dolphin on one of the boat trips. We saw the Northern Lights!! But not as well as I had hoped, it was quite cloudy the day of our trip and you could only really notice that behind the clouds there was light dancing. It was good to see something, but would have been alot more magical if we'd have seen it on a clear night.

Iceland is definitely one of, if not the best holiday I've been on for opening my eyes to how beautiful the world can be. Luke and I are planning on going back during the winter time (it was quite average temperatures whilst we were there) to see it all snowy..

Book Haul

 

Reading is definitely near the top of my list of favourite things to do - I love being able to completely switch off from everything and have my mind thinking about the characters and story and nothing else.

I don't mind paying full price for books, but I tend to just impulse buy based on the cover (bad, I know) or if I like the author. I don't tend to read the 'Top Chart' books until waaaay after everyone else has, as I like to ignore the hype and not let it affect the story I'm reading. The Girl on the Train is a perfect example, whilst the hype around the book isn't quite dead, I have already read it. I can't say I was too impressed actually, or blown away, so I really don't know what all the hype was around that book. I hate it when you expect so much & the book and author come off worse for it, so I tend not to read books when they're above 50 and below in the chart.

I am signed up to a website which you can freely swap your books with other members, the only charge being the postage you pay. Usually people post 2nd Class, non recorded and just get proof of postage, so the receipt. I've swapped quite a few times now and haven't had problems at all. You basically upload the books you have that you're happy to swap, and you can either wait for people to swap with you, or if you have a particular book in mind you can search for it and request swaps with others! The website link is www.readitswapit.co.uk - it'd be great to get more readers on there! 2 of the books above were from this site, so only cost me £4.50 for both of them in postage on what I'd sent back!

I bought the other books (excluding the Marco Polo guide to Australia)from a Bargain Book Store shop in Skegness when myself and Luke were up there for our anniversary weekend - the books were 3 for £5 so I paid a mere £10 for 6 books all of which state around £7-8.99 on the covers!

I used to read the Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse series but ended up getting in the middle of my exams and just forgetting! So I bought the first book to get back into them, from what I remember I really liked them.. I bought The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow purely for the cover, it's beautiful. When I review the book I'll have to show you, I did this too with Drakenfeld, it looks really medieval and interesting. I read the blurb for this and it seems a bit intense and heavy compared to what I'm used to, so probably won't be a holiday or casual read book, but still worth a go!

I bought the Marco Polo Guide to Australia as I'm going for 2 weeks next year (hopefully), my Aunt lives in South Australia near Mt. Baker so I'm sure she'll be showing me all the sights, but I'm hoping to tour the whole of Aus at some point so thought it'd be great to get an idea of what I'm doing to do!

Have you read any of these? Would you recommend any?

Let me know if you sign up to ReaditSwapit, I'll look out for your books!

Book Review: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

 

 

Firstly, I apologise for my photography.. It's the one thing I hate about blogging the most, I hate taking photos of objects, they're boring and inanimate.

 

As part of my Reading Challenge, I've recently finished Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. Gillian is probably known more for Gone Girl, a book which I really enjoyed. Dark Places is written from 3 alternate view points, in a diary style.

 

'Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived–and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her.

The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details–proof they hope may free Ben–Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club… and maybe she’ll admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all.

As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the narrative flashes back to January 2, 1985. The events of that day are relayed through the eyes of Libby’s doomed family members–including Ben, a loner whose rage over his shiftless father and their failing farm have driven him into a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town. Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started–on the run from a killer.' (http://gillian-flynn.com/dark-places/)

I never imagined that I would be able to read something so dark, and quite gruesome, but actually I really enjoyed this. I finished this in less than a week, reading it at every opportunity, but finishing each chapter then leaving it a while to truly allow the story line to sink in.

This book is definitely worth a read if you enjoy mystery novels, but definitely a great over all, all genre read. I never really felt any sympathy for Libby, which I find incredible considering all that's gone on, I didn't actual feel sympathy for any of the characters, even Ben Day who'd been locked in prison for the past 15 years. Flynn has this way with the character build that you care enough to keep reading and really want to follow the characters lives, but at the same time you don't pity them because of what's happened. It seems almost, normal, what happened & how the characters act.. It's very odd!


Have you read any of Gillian Flynn's books? Will you being giving Dark Places a read? Let me know!

I'm reading Caroline Kepnes' 'YOU' next, have you read this? Is it a good read? No spoilers please!

My Travel Bucket List

Photo courtesy of Pinterest & http://blogof.francescomugnai.com



Travelling never really interested me until recently. I always viewed travelling as a 'holiday' and made sure it was to a hot country with loads of beach and all inclusive cocktails, whereas now I can really understand the travel bug and why so many people travel for a gap year, or have a list of places they must see/discover before they die. Luke and I are trying to branch out with our 'holidays' and discover places, rather than travel to somewhere hot - this year we're going to Iceland for 5 days and I can't wait [45 days to go!!], we've booked 4 trips over the 5 days so we'll hopefully be able to explore Iceland and then have a day spent around the shops and getting some traditional Icelandic pieces to bring home as souvenirs.

I thought it'd be quite a fun idea to list countries, or places, I really want to visit, just off the top of my head so that I know they're truly my 'to visit' places.

// Iceland [Done September 2015!]
// Australia [I've visited Perth and Fremantle before, but would love to tour the whole of Aus]
// Tazmania
// New Zealand [bonus for this one is that Luke loves The Hobbit so is more keen to go here!]
// Alaska
// Canada
// Rome
// Disney World Orlando
// Ireland/Giants Causeway

So far, the only one I think I can truly cross off will be Iceland after going in September, but it may be that I need to go back if we miss anything out or love it so much.

Have you travelled to any of the above places? Or maybe you've written a post similar to thing on your travel bucket list? I'd love to read your posts!

2015 Reading Challenge

Photo courtesy of popsugar.com

Hiya!

I know it's half way through 2015, nearly more than half way (whaaaat?!) but I've been reading a lot more this year and it's actually really great. I'm the big book worm nerd in our family & now I don't have the stress of college and work's calming down so I'm actually just working 9-5, I have more free time on my hands that I can use up in a great book.

I'm now a member of GoodReads.com, which is basically a website, and app, that you can use to track the books you read, connect with other readers and discuss and review the books you're reading and have read. It's actually a good website and the iPhone app is good too - I've only been a member recently but have already made a few friends on there. You just literally have to put yourself out there! Everyone using the site shares the love of reading, and you can actually view the books they're reading/have read to see if you have similar interests.

Part of the GoodReads app allows you to take part in the 2015 Reading Challenge, which I've started. I've challenged myself to read 35 books before January 1st 2016. I'm thinking now that that's a tad ambitious considering there's only 5 months (nearly) left of the year, and that's 5 books a month, but I think I can do it.

I've listed below a couple of the books which're on my 'to read' list contributing towards the challenge, let me know if you've read any and what you thought!

// The Moth by Catherine Burns
// The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz
// 1984 by George Orwell
// The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
// The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen

Some of the above books I've decided to read after watching a couple of BookTubers and some have just popped up on my recommendations list by GoodReads so I thought why not try them and see how I rate their 'recommended for you' process.

I'm currently reading Dark Places by Gillian Flynn, I'm not many pages in yet but the story so far seems quite good. The main character, Libby Day was 7 when her mother and 3(I think it's 3) sisters were murdered, something which Libby is adamant her brother is guilty of, only the more we read the more doubt appears in Libby's mind that her brother may not be guilty - the only problem is it was Libby's testimony that put him behind bars. We're now reading 24 years after the murders took place and it's all starting to unwravel.

Please let me know if you're on GoodReads! My link is https://www.goodreads.com/chloelouisecopex - it'd be great to link with you!

Speak soon!

I'm back for 2015!..

Hi everyone!

So... I say I'm back for 2015... I know I'm 7 months late, BUT atleast I'm trying?! Please forgive me.

I'm so very meh with blogging, I love it, then I can't be bothered for it.. but I'm going to stick to it now, I just don't think solely blogging about beauty was for me. I'm a very minimalistic person when it comes to makeup, and I don't have money to spend on new products or trying the latest thing, so I think beauty blogging was hard for me! Don't get me wrong, I'm still a girl so I do like makeup (now, I used to HATE it) so there will be some beauty posts here and there for all of the followers that are beauty bloggers or just love beauty!

I'm going to be focusing more on hobbies, and just more about me and my life really. Hopefully that way it'll mean there's always a bit of everything thrown together keeping it interesting, for both me and you(!) and it means I won't stop after a month or so.. Plus it gives me something creative to do when my boyfriends working, or at the football, or being a mard'!

Hope you all enjoy my posts moving forward, please let me know how you all are! The more encouragement the better as I am pretty nervous about returning to the blogosphere..

Ciao for now! x